Aware that it was using outdated and unsophisticated access control equipment, the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) wanted to improve its existing system. It required a solution that could provide more granular control over access rights across its premises and wanted to extend the system to encompass several new buildings.
Client comment
“The Windows-based software is relatively easy to use and we feel that we have greater control over managing the system. The engineers were always polite and helpful whilst on site and we have been very impressed with the after-sales service provided by Chris Lewis Fire & Security.”
Debbie Reeves, Accommodation Officer at the Air Accidents Investigation Branch
Project background
The AAIB is part of the Department for Transport and is responsible for the investigation of civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents within the UK. Its headquarters in Farnborough, Hampshire is where aircraft wreckage is transported for investigation and examination.
Due to the serious nature of its business, security is of paramount importance. The organisation needs to rigorously control access into and within its site.
Although its existing access control system used advanced technology at the time of installation, technological developments had seen several new products emerge that offered more sophisticated functionality and improved administration interfaces. The AAIB wanted to upgrade to take advantage of these new technologies and to extend protection to newly built office buildings and two additional aircraft hangers.
?width=277&height=228)
The security project was subcontracted to Chris Lewis Fire & Security by electrical contractors, Darke and Taylor. Our breadth of experience in access control, combined with our innovative IT-centric approach, enabled us to design and install a new system that completely satisfied the AAIB’s immediate and long-term requirements, and offered substantial cost savings over competitive approaches.
The solution
We installed a Net2 Access Control system across the AAIB site that utilised its existing IT network.
Because Net2 is such a highly sophisticated and intuitive system, it supports other manufacturers’ reader technology. For the AAIB, this meant that authorised users could continue to use their existing swipe cards on the new system.
Results
The chosen Net2 Access Control system offered substantial cost savings for AAIB. Not only did it negate the need for the organisation to invest in and distribute new swipe cards to its 55 employees, our engineers were able to automatically import all the data relating to the original access cards to the new system.
This data included personal details as well as access rights, and its automatic transfer not only saved administration time, but also avoided potential data entry errors.
Another benefit of the new Net2 system is that it will easily accommodate any further growth to the AAIB’s site. It therefore offers a very satisfactory, long term security solution for an organisation that is likely to want to expand in the future.
The Net2 user interface is a highly intuitive Windows based system. It therefore looks very familiar to AAIB staff and offers vastly improved functionality over the previous system. For example, it allows multiple authorised administrators to access the system at any one time and enables them to run reports on users, track the use of lost or stolen cards, control times when doors are locked, as well as issue new or temporary cards – quickly and simply.